Forever Changing
by Molly.xx
Summary: AU. The war isn't over, things are still bad but everything is not as it seems.
1. Chapter 1

"Well, some nights, I wish that this all would end  
Cause I could use some friends for a change." –Fun, Some Nights.

A tear ran down my face as I left the ancient castle. It wasn't out of happiness, but it wasn't out of sadness either. It was just there. It seemed to just represent all the emotions the place had ever given me; from happiness to sadness, excitement to disappointment, fear to confidence… this building had been the backdrop to most of the pinnacle events in my life for the past seven years. I'd had my first kiss here, my first… time here, first real exams here, first boyfriend here, first breakup here, first near death experience here, first real duel here, first and only time I'd seen a brother of mine dead on the floor here.

Admittedly it hadn't all been good, but it hadn't all been bad either. And this last year, the first year without the trio to look up to, the first year I'd been the only Weasley at the school, I'd even managed to get head girl! And, even more importantly, Gryffindor once again got the quidditch cup. Worked hard for it too, I must say.

But not it's gone, finished, ended. The chapter has been closed, if you will, no more house cup, no more school quidditch, no more trips to Hagrid's hut, no more feasts in the Great Hall, no more sneaking out at silly o'clock in the morning, no more homework down by the lake.. Gosh I'm going to miss this place more than I ever imagined.

Anyway, I'm in this state as I sit on my own on the Hogwarts Express. I don't know why I'm alone really, it just seemed fitting. Every year I would sit here with Neville and Luna. The trio would always be in a compartment a few down; we'd often share a carriage with them afterwards up to the castle. But that's all changed. Harry's dead (I think), Ron and Hermione are on the run (I think), Luna's moved to an African colony with her dad until everything had 'died down' (I think), and Neville is off helping refugees of the war (Or so I've heard). But no, my parents had insisted that I go back to Hogwarts for the rest of my educated years. Well, it was only a year really but still. I suppose I can't complain though, I loved Hogwarts, still love it to be fair. I know the final battle was there and all that but still, the majestic beauty of the place just overtook the senses and overrode all emotions. It was a truly exceptional place. But it would never be my home; as much as I love it I will always love The Burrow more. Everywhere I go there I'm reminded of Fred and Harry. To start with I hated the fact, but now I've grown to accept it. It's nice in the way that when you're older you can walk around the areas you frequented as a child and just be filled with these bittersweet memories of days gone by. Of past happiness's and sadness's.

The Hogwarts Express pulled into Kings Cross Station. This'll be the last time I get to pull into the station and meet all of my family off of the train. An odd excitement starts to build up in my belly. I'd stayed at Hogwarts over Christmas so I haven't been home in ages. I miss it, I honestly do.

Except when I get off of the train it's not my entire family waiting there for me, well it wouldn't have been Fred or Ron anyway but you know, it's just Percy. Don't get me wrong I love him to bits. But still. Percy? I honestly don't think I can deal with his incessant ponderings the whole journey home. I can just hear my mother's voice right now: 'Be grateful you have him. People have had entire families wiped out in this war.' Because, you know, all she can ever talk about it war. It's all I hear, war this, and war that. I'm sick of it. It's not as if I'm immune to the consequences. I've lost friends and family and teachers alike, mum just seems to forget all of this. She cries all the time too, tells us we all need to stay strong but then goes and cries anyway; and when she's like that nobody can comfort her. Not me, not Percy, not Bill, not Fleur, not even dad. I still remember that time last year as if it was yesterday. It was just after the war. Mum was sat on the sofa. Her body was rattling with empty sobs, empty because she'd already used all of her tears up. She hadn't eaten in two days. She looked frail and ill and not how a mother should look. At that moment George walked through the door, he looked pale and lacked his usual smile. He was wearing a jumper with a large F on the front. He still does that, you know, wears Fred's clothes just to feel closer to him. But mum didn't know that. She thought it was Fred walking through the door. It broke my heart to see it, mum's face lighting up with a smile, she ran across the room with more energy than I'd ever seen her use and threw herself on George. She started just muttering his name over and over again, except she was muttering Fred, not George. His face when he had to explain who he was to his own mother. She broke down, he broke down, we all broke down. It was just a messy situation in general to be honest.

"Ginny, over here!" Percy shouted, interrupting my thoughts as I hopped off the train. As if I actually couldn't see him anyway. He was right there; his red hair and spectacles weren't actually conspicuous.

"Percy." I mumbled it's not that I liked sounding ungrateful; I just wanted to see my entire family for the first time in months.

"We have to walk about half a mile and then we get a portkey to The Burrow. Okay?" Business like as always, our dear Percy.

"Okay sounds good." I suddenly feel drained of all energy; I can't even muster up a proper reply. What is wrong with me?

And then we begin to walk to the portkey. I just follow Percy; as much as I love him we really have nothing in common except a gene pool so I really struggle to make conversation. Instead we just lapse into a comfortable silence. Silence, it's a weird thing; I used to hate it. It just used to be this awkward thing that made time goes slow. But now I love it. The calm it brings, the emotions it can hold so close to itself. Silence is my friend. One of the only ones I have left.

"Ah. Here we are." Percy smiled; obviously he was proud of himself for performing such a menial task. I mean finding a portkey, wow. It's not like he's surrounded by amazing witches and wizards who have fought tooth and nail for the cause that they feel is right, no matter which side it falls on. This time the portkey just so happens to be an old copy of a British newspaper, the Daily Mail. If the situation had of been different I would have made sure to keep the newspaper afterwards and show it to dad, but right now everyone's just too distracted to care. I miss the old times. The simpler times. Times without war. They were so much easier and way more fun. It felt like I had a proper family, not just a small cluster of people who clung together because it meant a tiny bit more protection from other small clusters of people on the other side of the fence. Funny really, nobody calls it family any more.

"Ginny, if I were you I'd be a little bit careful around mum today." Percy warned me.

"Oh right, why?"

"She's a bit," he began to wave his hands around a bit as if for emphasis, "distracted today. We got a letter. We think it might be from," he suddenly stopped talking before leaning in closer and mumbling in my ear, his breath tickled my neck and not in a nice way, "Ron." Wow, a letter from my brother. Big news.

We then looked around to see who was looking and grabbed the newspaper, I closed my eyes and I felt the familiar tug at my naval before landing on the sounds ground. I didn't even need to open my eyes to know where we were. The sweet scent of home filled my nostrils. Of dewy grass, of wild lilies in the pond, of the British countryside rolling around us… gosh I'd missed this. I slowly opened my eyes and rose to my feet, the whole side of my body that had hit the floor was damp but I couldn't even care. I didn't even care about what Percy had warned me about, I just wanted to be in the house and be at home. I began to run towards the house, our house, my home. But wait, what was that? A fleeting vision of a black cape, someone running. No, it couldn't be. I ignored it as best as I could, blamed it on my imagination running away with me. It had to be, right?

"_Ginny!" _I heard Percy shout behind me before I felt myself being thrown at the floor, his body covering mine. Simultaneously I heard an earth shattering Bang. The ground beneath me seemed to shake with the force of it before a shower of shrapnel fell over us.

"Go." Percy demanded.

"But-" I began. I was not used to this new, harsher Percy.

"Just go." He muttered before standing up and pulling me to my feet. He then gave me a small push towards the gate; I turned towards the house only to see it up in flames. Percy pushed me again, harder than before. I couldn't even formulate a simple sentence; I just did as I was told and turned and ran away from my home. The one place I'd needed. The place in flames. I caught a fleeting glimpse of Percy running towards the house before I felt my wand in my pocket and apparated away.


	2. Chapter 2

'cos all of the stars  
are fading away  
just try not to worry  
you'll see them some day  
take what you need  
and be on your way  
and stop crying your heart out' –Oasis, Stop Crying Your Heart Out.

The world span around me, I felt like I was going to be sick. This wasn't real. This wasn't happening. This had to be a dream. Didn't it? Yes, of course it had to be. The Burrow.. Up in flames? Rubbish! Percy.. Being the hero? Obviously not. My parents and any possibly my brothers.. Stuck in a blown up burrow? No, it couldn't be. I'd had enough bad luck as it was!

But then I hit the ground and reality hit me like a tonne of bricks. Shards of my home rest on my clothes in the form of splinters and dust. I must have done something simply awful as a child because karma certainly wasn't being lenient.

I rose from the apparition point, unsteady on my feet. People gave me sympathetic looks as if to say, 'bless her, only just passed her test. Still unsure of it all.' patronising gits. I'd passed with flying colours, never been like this before. I can't be perfect all the time though you know. I could feel my head splitting as realisation dawned. My parents could be dead. My brothers could be dead. Every cell in my body told me to go right back there and help them. Or at least fetch someone else and then go back and help. But my instincts fought against me tooth and nail. Something just told me not to go back, no it didn't, it screamed at me. Don't know why. We have no known enemies, apart from those in Azkaban. I hadn't heard of a breakout… then obviously there was Voldemort. But he'd been gone since the battle. Both he and Harry died at the battle, or so we think, neither body was ever recovered though. Harry; I still miss him; think about him every day in fact. First love is the hardest to forget after all. Especially when you know he would have been the one.

I grab the old fashioned brick wall for balance before rounding a corner and turning onto the familiar cobble street. Ollivanders, a new Gringotts, Eyelop's Owl Emporium, Quality Quidditch Supplies, Madame Malkins… Diagon Alley. A calm sense of familiarity filled me as I walked the worn, dull streets. My brothers used to own the most colourful shop on the street, you know. One still does, but it's not as bright. I can see from here that it's shut, no point trying for George then. But still people throw coins into the fountain outside it. Now that is the brightest thing on the street; and, apart from the renovations to Gringotts, the only thing that's changed about the street since before the beginning of the war. The fountain was made out of bronze and was absolutely spectacular, intricate patterns covered the base of it and, in the middle, whilst most fountains would hold some sort of angel or dolphin of some sort, this held a perfect replica of my dear deceased brother, Fred. He was laughing and the water squirted out of the end of his wand. It was a beautiful statue. I didn't even need to go over and read the plaque at the bottom to know what it said,

'_Fred. A dear brother, friend, son and ally. One of the many victims of a war none of us chose to fight in. you will be forever in our memories.'_

I also didn't need to look at it to know it alone had raised more money for war charities than anything else. Everybody had loved Fred. He was a Weasley, a legend, a twin.

They say you die twice, you know, once when you stop breathing and again when somebody says your name for the last time. But Fred won't die the second time. He'll be remembered forever. I hope.

I wondered the streets, unsure of what to do with myself. Autopilot kicked in. I had to be a chameleon, a street artist… I couldn't be seen. Easier said than done when you're related to half the bloody wizarding world and the other half hates your guts. I used the little amount of money I had left to purchase a small snack. Lesson one: You can't just sit down when you're trying to blend in; you have to have a reason to. And so I sat and ate my pumpkin pasty as slowly as possible. Not slow enough that people realised but slow enough so I had time to sit down on a wiry looking bench just off of the high street and think, I thought to myself. I tried to make sense of the situation. Only nothing sprang to mind, I just ended up more dizzy and confused than before. However all too quickly I was finishing up. I stood quietly and brushed the crumbs from my lap. Lesson two: To blend in you have to be in plain view. Wonder around, go into shops, have a bit of a browse… I was only doing this because I could feel someone watching me; I could feel their eyes boring into the back of my neck, leaving scorch marks from the intensity. But I could not for the life of me tell who it was. I hadn't felt like this since Umbridge and her army of Slytherins were diploid to spy on the likes of me and Harry. As much as I hate foul language, she was a bitch. And a really nasty one at that.

It was getting dark. Shops were starting to close and streets were emptying out. I was exhausted; it had been a testing day. The only things I had were the clothes I was standing in and half a packet of Bertie Botts I'd bought earlier. Where could I go? Since the Order had been disbanded our families had no real ties. People knew us but most of the people we were close to before were dead. The Lupins, the Blacks, the Potters, the Tonks… The Longbottoms and the Lovegoods were also out of the question. Right. That was it. I had no choice. I stumbled over to Gringotts; my feet exhausted and withdrew all of the money I had left. It wasn't very much anyway. Still, it pained me to do so. I hated spending money like this but I had no choice. Reluctantly I booked out a room in the Leaky Cauldron and went to bed.

The next morning I woke up no more refreshed than the night before. I'd been tossing and turning all night, unable to drop off. Sleep was a luxury I just could not obtain. With a quick cleaning spell to my clothes and a bite to eat I was ready to go. So why did I still remain seated on the bed? I suddenly felt paralysed, for once in my life I literally had nothing to do and nowhere to be. I could spend another day wondering the shops.

But what would be the point?

I could spend the day rebuilding the burrow, depending on the state it was in.

But what good could that do?

I had to wait for Percy. He would tell me when it was ok to go home, I hope. I wasn't use to this. Being completely dependent on that one person. I couldn't even do anything until I knew what was going on and the only way I was going to find out what was going on was if Percy hurried up and told me. But how could he find me? He had no idea where I was.

An owl, that was the answer.

I jumped up and moved quicker than I ever had done before and rushed to the post office. It was an old shop with spindly furniture and a rather low ceiling. It smelt of owl food and old parchment but it did the job.

"I'll take your quickest owl please." I demanded to the woman behind the till.

"Two seconds my dear." The woman replied smiling, moving at a snail pace to retrieve the owl. I didn't have two seconds. Why couldn't she see that? I tried to not get into an agitated rage whilst she collected the bird and brought it back. It was a beautiful eagle owl that reminded me a lot of Hermes. Except this was slightly bigger and a lot grander. She then placed him on my arm and gave me a quill and some parchment. I grabbed it and then threw myself onto a stool near the back of the tiny shop.

_Perc,_

_ What is going on? Is it safe to come home? You've got me worried and I need to hear from you as soon as you can._

_From_

_ Love, _

_Gin._

There, that should do it. Short and to the point. He wouldn't need any more than that. I then attached it into the little bag around the lovely owl's foot, gave him a quick treat and sent him on his way.

Four days later and I still hadn't heard back from Percy. I was contemplating searching for him myself but I just didn't know if I wanted to. He could be anywhere and I was running out of money as it was. At least if I was here I guess a few locals would at least know of me. And if the worst came to the worst I'm sure George would forgive me for breaking into his still closed shop. Where was he anyway? It wasn't like him to ever close the shop.

"It will arouse too much suspicion." A voice whispers outside my room.

"My lord, it must be done." Replied the other. It sounded fearful. My lord? I hadn't heard anyone be referred to as that since the times of the dark lord and death eaters.

"You will answer only to me, Zabini!"

"I cannot dispute that, my lord, but I am only telling you what needs to be said."

"Which is?"  
"You no longer look how you used to. You are no longer the Voldemort like creature you once were, you are now more like the original Tom Riddle you used to be."

What? I couldn't help but reel back in shock. The reason for so many deaths and murders was stood directly outside of my door, whispering. I covered my mouth to avoid making any sound.

"Of my dear Blaise, you need to understand this. Tom Riddle is not a name that evokes fear into anyone. I simply will not do." He seemed to coo patronizingly. It was all too much. I leant across for my wand, instead clumsy me just knocked it making it fall off the desk.

"What was that." Voldemort muttered harshly, "I thought you said you'd cleared the building?"

"I thought I had, my lord." The voice stumbled.

"Sort it." Voldemort muttered harshly before a crack was heard, he had apparated away. Ginny felt the door she sat behind become blasted open, she grabbed her wand and dived under the bed but it was too late. Blaise Zabini wasn't stupid.

"Expelliarmus." I tried to cast from my position under the bed, he reflected it easily. As he did with every other curse I threw. Damn when did he get so good? Without using any magic what so ever he grabbed my wrists, dragged me from under the bed where I began kicking and screaming, covered my mouth and apparated me away with a crack.

**AN: SORRY THIS IS TAKING QUITE SOME TIME TO GET INTO, IT WONT STAY LIKE THIS, PROMISE. I HAVE ALL THE CHAPTERS PLANNED OUT TO TRY AND AVOID WRITER'S BLOCK BUT IT'LL TAKE A FEW CHAPTERS TO REALLY GET INTO THE STORY LINE. ALSO, I'LL TRY AND UPDATE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE BUT WITH A LEVELS AND A SOCIAL LIFE AND WORK I REALLY WONT BE ABLE TO MANAGE DAILY UPDATES OR ANYTHING. IT'LL BE MORE FREQUENT IN THE HOLIDAYS (I HOPE), BUT SAYING THAT I'VE BEEN REALLY BUSY THIS HALF TERM WITH PARTIES AND THINGS. ANYWAY, THANKS SO MUCH FOR SHOWING EARLY INTEREST. I HOPE THE STORY DOESN'T DISSAPOINT TOO MUCH!**


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